-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12/31/05 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom Christ Church waiver hits a snag Feds to examine filling of wetlands in 1970s
BY ROB JENNINGS DAILY RECORD
ROCKAWAY TWP. --The unauthorized fill-in of 20 acres of wetlands in the 1970s on land purchased this year by Christ Church is being revisited by the federal government as the church seeks permission to redevelop the site.
In a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Department of the Interior said it would "question the validity" of granting an exemption under the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act because of unresolved questions surrounding the wetlands fill, which was first documented in 1979.
Christ Church spokesman Marc Weinstein said that issues stemming from the wetlands fill along the western bank of the Beaver Brook were being properly addressed by the Army Corps of Engineers and would not be a factor in the church's exemption bid.
"It's a nonissue," Weinstein said on Friday.
The 107-acre site off Green Pond Road was owned by Hewlett Packard, the predecessor to Agilent Technologies, in the 1970s. Agilent sold the property to Christ Church for $10.25 million this past August.
Christ Church's building plan includes a 2,512-seat sanctuary, private K-5 school and recreational facilities. Opponents have raised a variety of objections, including environmental impact.
Department of the Interior Supervisor Clifford G. Day, in a Dec. 1 letter to DEP Division of Watershed Management Chief Terry Pilawski, wrote that filling in wetlands without a federal permit after 1972 would have violated the federal Clean Water Act.
"It appears that some portions of the existing development on the proposed project site do not constitute lawfully existing impervious surface,"Day wrote.
Day wrote that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "would question the validity of granting an exemption under Section 30(a)(4) of the Highlands Act prior to resolving the issue of compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act."
Christ Church received the exemption from DEP in September 2004, on the rationale that the church's building plan fell within 125 percent of the lawfully existing impervious surfaces on the site -- one of more than a dozen conditions for an exemption under the statute.
Without the exemption, Christ Church's plans would be subject to additional scrutiny and restrictions.
The DEP was ordered to conduct a fresh inquiry by a state appellate court in response to a legal challenge by Rockaway Township. No decision has been reached on whether the exemption will be upheld or revoked.
Christ Church, as part of its building proposal, has offered to clean up any environmental contamination of soil and groundwater and promised that no "forested portions" would be disturbed, according to Day's letter.
The Department of the Interior's review was prompted by new paperwork submitted by the church in response to the reopened DEP inquiry.
Mayor Louis Sceusi, who sits on the township planning board reviewing the mega-church plan, said that issues stemming from the 1970s wetlands fill should be contemplated by the DEP.
"We want to make sure everything is done to protect the environment," Sceusi said.
DEP spokeswoman Elaine Makatura declined comment.
The Green Pond Road site provides habitat for a range of protected species, including the timber rattlesnake, northern goshawk, bobcat, barred owl, red-shouldered hawk, Cooper's hawk, red-headed woodpecker and wood turtle, according to Day's letter.
Sceusi, who became mayor in 2003, said he didn't know why there wasn't greater local interest in the unauthorized wetlands fill until Christ Church's application surfaced.
"There had always been talk about it," Sceusi said.
"Certainly the church didn't have anything to do with this," Sceusi said of the wetlands fill. "I don't want to imply in any way that the church did it."
Day wrote that federal Fish and Wildlife workers documented the fill-in in 1979, reported it to the Army Corps of Engineers and participated in an inter-agency site inspection.
It recommended a public comment period, but there is no record of public comment ever being sought, Day wrote.
"Considering the high value of the site to fish and wildlife resources .... and because the fill was deposited directly up to the stream channel (Fish and Wildlife) would have certainly recommended full restoration of the filled wetlands if provided an opportunity to comment on a public notice," he wrote.
"Due to the 25-year time lapse, the full administrative record from the incident may be unavailable," Day said.
Day added that "no enforcement action, site restoration or compensatory mitigation were required of Hewlett Packard."
Planning board hearings on Christ Church's building plan have been under way since Dec. 15, 2003, and a 24th will be held next month. ********************************************
I have a copy of the letter for anyone wanting to read it completely. Lisa
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The truth wins out over slick PR and personal attacks.
The Christ Church Plan for the redevelopment of 140 Green Pond Rd is just too big for the area.
I do find it quite comical that instead of Christ Churches legal team responding to legal matters, they have their paid PR person stating things like "It's a non issue,". If it was not an issue, then the letter would not have been written to the DEP, and Christ Church would have never mentioned it at all. It is only when there is trouble with the application that the CC PR team speaks up to try and downplay the seriousness of any particular situation.
